“…Commonly touted as "empathy machines," IVEs facilitate the experience of events from others' perspectives (Milk, 2015;Thériault et al, 2021), and this can consequently generate empathy (Hamilton-Giachritsis et al, 2018;Herrera et al, 2018). IVEs can generate empathy in users as evidenced in many studies (Ahn et al, 2016;Oh et al, 2016;Bertrand et al, 2018;Herrera et al, 2018;Hamilton-Giachritsis et al, 2018;Shin, 2018;Wiederhold, 2020;Mado et al, 2021;Thériault et al, 2021;Ventura et al, 2021) and this is achieved by facilitating embodiment. Embodiment occurs when individuals feel as though they are experiencing events first-hand (Shin, 2018;Ahn, Le & Bailenson, 2013), and it may even involve them perceiving that they are inhibiting the body of the protagonist, in more extreme cases; this is a phenomenon known as body transfer (Ahn et al, 2016;Mado et al, 2021;Slater et al, 2010;Kilteni et al, 2012;Wiederhold, 2020).…”